Blog

During the course of the day I encounter lots of challenges, some of which take minutes to solve and others that take much longer. My goal for this section is to keep track of these challenges and their solutions. I will turn the longer ones into articles, while the shorter ones will stay as blog entries. You can expect topics to range from very specific programming challenges to broader topics like life.

Below is a list of the recent blog entries. You can also browse the blog by using the tags on the right side, or if you know what you are looking for then you can use the search box at the top right.

Modeline figured out!

Thanks for the DVI / XFree86 output I think I found the correct Modeline for my TV (Mitsubishi WS-55513). Basically you have to run X and afterwards checkout the log file to see what the TV sent back. Note that I am connected through DVI and I have to no idea whether this information will be sent back with any other interface. Anyways, my XFree86.0.log file had the following (I am only posting the interesting part):

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Python’s GUI Toolkit Options

I have been hearing a lot about Python being a great language to program in so last night I started reading some tutorials about python. I was able to understand the basics by reading the tutorials that were linked through the website, and then started looking at the options for graphical interface toolkits. As always there are a lot of options!

So on to searching the web… Below are a few links that I think might be useful if you are in the same boat.

Amazing K3B Success

Screenshot of K3b's writing dialog at the end of the burning

I thought this was worth blogging about. Today my Windows installation started to give me some problems right when I was creating a playlist of songs to burn to a CD. I did not want to spend any time trying to it get it back in a good condition so I booted into Arch Linux and continued with playlist creation. After I was done with selecting the songs it hit me, how was I going to burn? I have never burned a CD in linux before, ever! No idea what software to use, how to convert the MP3s to WAV

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Bought the FX5200 for the DVR/PVR Computer

The Actual Video Card

After doing some research about whether my current motherboard (P6B40-A4X”) will take an nVidia FX5200 AGP 4x/8x card I have finally ordered
this eVGA Geforce FX5200 128MB 64-bit DDR AGP 4X/8X Video Card from Newegg. If you are wondering about AGP compatibility then check out this and this. The second link is "to the point" information where as the first one has more detailed information, and if you are looking for really detailed AGP information then check this out.

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Interesting Spin on the DVR/PVR Project

After posting a few questions to the local Madison Linux User Group (MadLUG) I have gotten some very interesting input. First of all I have found out that I need to learn more about framebuffer vs non-framebuffer (whatever the latter is called) and additionally since the TV is HDTV (is that how you would put it?) I might be able to use resolutions higher than the previously thought 640×480 or the little higher seven-hundred-by-something with the S-Video. Here is a link that was posted by one of the members: http://www.digitalconnection.com/FAQ/HDTV_4.asp.

Plus I am thinking of waiting longer on the hardware purchase since one MadLUG member mentioned that he has successfully used his P2 450MHz for video playback. On a side note: two weeks ago I actually cancelled the cable service because it was just too adictive. Usually I would end up spending way too much time in front of the TV, I am talking at least one movie every night and 2+ on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays! Since the cable has been cancelled I don’t think I really need to setup the Recording (R) part of the PVR/DVR right away 🙂

I have also been told to checkout the AVS Forums so I will be spending some time on there now. Let’s see how it goes…

TaskSwitchXP

In today’s world a computer users do not just run one program but instead run several different programs. Programs like Microsoft Outlook, several instances of Internet Explorer, Windows Explorer, Microsoft Word. Switching between these programs can become a pain especially if you want to switch to a program that you haven’t switched to lately.

This is where TaskSwitchXP comes. TaskSwitchXP is an excellent replacement for Windows’ default ALT+TAB feature. It allows you to use either your arrow keys or mouse to easily switch from one program to another

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Normal TaskSwitchXP window.

Productivity Enhancement Tips

Productivity enhancement tips…

Productivity Enhancement Tips

I will be starting work on compilation of computer productivity tips. Over the time I have been able to gather several tools and shortcuts that have helped me save time. You can expect this list sometime towards the end of this month.

The Micron Exhaust

The exhaust that will soon be going on the bike.

Just Ordered an Exhaust for the Gixxer!

The Micron Exhaust

I just ordered a Titanium Micron exhaust for the bike! This is going to make the bike sound and perform (probably not as much as sound) awesome! I can’t wait till it gets here! 😀

Its coming from Indiana so it should be here early next week… 🙂